FILE – In this Nov. 5, 2017, file photo, Los Angeles Rams’ Greg Zuerlein (4) kicks an extra point during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, in East Rutherford, N.J. NFL kickers are thriving as much as ever. Ten of them are making 90 percent or more of their field goals, with 50-plus-yarders becoming more and more routine. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

THOUSAND OAKS — In 2011, David Akers put together arguably the best season of any kicker in NFL history. At 37 years old, in his first season with the 49ers, Akers made 44 field goals, four better than the previous NFL record. Only three players in NFL history, all running backs — Ladainian Tomlinson, Paul Hornung, and Shaun Alexander — had ever contributed more points in a single season.

A year later, Akers was cut.

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This is the cautionary tale that Greg Zuerlein offers, when asked about the significance of his extraordinary scoring pace this season. This sobering notion has kept him grounded through most of his career, and even as he has emerged as the unanimous top kicker in the NFL through the season’s first half, Zuerlein refuses to change anything about that approach. He understands how fleeting kicking success can be.

But the truth is that at the midway point in the NFL season, his season thus far isn’t just great. It is historic. At no point in league history has a player scored at the clip that Zuerlein continues to score.

Through eight weeks, Zuerlein is on pace for 198 points — a total that would smash the NFL kicker scoring record set by Akers (167). In fact, that scoring total would dwarf even Tomlinson’s 186-point, 2006 campaign, which set a record for the highest-scoring season in NFL history, regardless of position.

Currently, Zuerlein has no peer among NFL kickers. He leads the league in every major kicking category. He has hit 24 of 25 field goals. He’s made all 12 of his kicks beyond 40 yards, and all 27 of his extra points. On average, he’s scored 12.375 points per game this season..

If that pace continues through 16 games, Zuerlein’s season would, objectively, be remembered as the best kicking performance in NFL history.

Other elements of the Rams attack have clicked better than ever before this season, too, but what Zuerlein is currently doing is unprecedented in a way that even the Rams’ high-powered offense can’t match. Sean McVay called his performance “unbelievable”. Quarterback Jared Goff said Zuerlein is “a big part of the reason we’ve been successful.”

But when confronted with the history behind his current, torrid pace, Zuerlein shrugs.

A beat passes, and he shrugs again, “I don’t really know what to tell you.”

Zuerlein insists that nothing has changed since last season, other than his circumstances in a more explosive offense. But through eight games, he’s already outscored his scoring total from last season by 19 points. With two successful field goals this week — which he’s had in every game but one — he’ll match his career high … with seven weeks to go.

It’s a stunning turnaround from two seasons ago, when Zuerlein nearly lost his job. In 2015, he struggled mightily, hitting just 66.7 percent of his field goals — the worst mark in the league. Before the season, then-coach Jeff Fisher warned that the Rams would bring in competition during training camp.

“Whether you have a good year or a bad year,” Zuerlein says, “they’re always going to be looking to bring someone else in.”

But the Rams never did bring in a challenger, and Zuerlein finished with a solid, albeit unspectacular 2016. His job was safe heading into this season, but there were no indications that a historic campaign might be ahead.

Zuerlein reiterates that nothing has changed to spark that sort of explosive output. His form is the same. His confidence has never wavered, he claims, even during his down season in 2015.

It’s that consistency — in kicking, and in messaging — that punter Johnny Hekker says is behind Zuerlein’s breakout season. With the Rams offense firing on all cylinders, he’s simply had more opportunities to display just how consistent he can be. And he’s taken full advantage.

“Being a kicker, that’s the only mark of success,” Hekker says, “how consistent you are putting it through the pipes.”

For Akers, following his 2011 campaign, that consistency waned. He hit just 69 percent of his field goals in 2012 and was released by the 49ers. He played one more NFL season, in Detroit, but never came close to that 2011 output.

Zuerlein knows the same could happen to him. A few missed kicks in the second half of the season, and suddenly, a once-historic pace can become a glaring question mark. Thus is the nature of kicking in the NFL.

But that pressure hasn’t fazed him. As his historic season continues, don’t expect that to change, either.

Ryan Kartje is a sports features reporter, with a special focus on the NFL and college sports. He has worked for the Orange County Register since 2012, when he was hired as UCLA beat writer. His enterprise work on the rise and fall of the daily fantasy sports industry (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/industry-689093-fantasy-daily.html) was honored in 2015 with an Associated Press Sports Editors’ enterprise award in the highest circulation category. His writing has also been honored by the Football Writers Association of America and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Ryan worked for the Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times and Fox Sports Wisconsin, before moving out west to live by the beach and eat copious amounts of burritos.

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